Elwood Drama War
by WinnieCocoaFlip
Summary: Mr. Ratburn's Third Grade Class with Arthur and the gang ended third grade on a light note. However, drama upon drama piles up in middle school until it all explodes in disaster at the end of their seventh grade year. Years later, Sue Ellen returns to Elwood City and meets up with two friends at the dawn of their sophomore year. How have things changed? Complete!
1. Prologue

Elwood Drama War

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**Title 0**

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Present Day

A figure sat in his room at the desk. With books, papers, and pencils piled up on one side and the only other thing on it being a picture frame, it was obvious that the figure was in the process of doing homework. The figure had on a pair of blue jeans, a red and blue striped polo shirt, and a pair of brown shoes. His signature round brown glasses sat on his face as he scribbled down the answer to the third problem of his summer math homework.

The figure turned around and started to speak with a wistful smile upon noticing your presence, "Oh, hi! I'm Arthur Timothy Read, but you can call me Arthur. I'm fifteen years old, I live in Elwood City, and I'm going to be a sophomore at Lakewood High." The aardvark turned around for a moment, and upon noticing his cluttered desk, quickly organized things a bit before turning back to you and resumed talking, "Sorry about my messy room, summer's almost over, and I still have to finish my summer homework. Anyway, you're probably wondering what happened in the past several years. I mean, you haven't heard from me since 3rd grade, right? Sorry about not keeping in contact, things have been pretty busy and a bit dramatic, too. In fact-" Arthur was cut off upon hearing his 11-year old sister.

A girl with brown hair wearing a pink sweater and blue jeans marched into the room and shouted, "Arthur, what are you doing? You said you'd help dad bring in the groceries five minutes ago! I had to help since you're too busy talking to yourself!" Dora Winifred Read was rather mad and annoyed that she had to take away time from her special television program to help bring in groceries.

Arthur sighed in exasperation and said, "D.W., I'm not speaking to myself. An old friend is here to visit." The little sister furrowed her brows in confusion before spotting you and asking of your identity, but her older brother wouldn't have it. "Anyway, I'm kind of busy here, so could you just keep watching your TV show?" Arthur said as he led his sister out of his room and shut the door despite the younger girl's protests.

The aardvark took his seat at his desk chair again before he faced you and said, "You're probably wondering what's been going on with the others" Arthur turned so he was facing the work on his desk, "Well, I can tell you that it hasn't been quite what you expected." Arthur gave a sad smile and wistfully glanced at the picture frame. The scene zoomed into the picture until you were taken into its story.

Flashback; 3rd grade

School was winding down. It was the spring time, and although there was only a little over a month until school ended, the students could practically taste the joyful heat of the summer time eager to come rushing in. The date was April 20th, and Mr. Nigel Charles Ratburn III's 3rd grade class was learning about Earth Day, the international day in which people from all over the world celebrate the Earth. The special day was to take place two days later, but Mr. Ratburn took the initiative to learn about the day a little earlier.

The reason as to why they were learning about the day in advance revealed itself as a white rabbit by the name of Buster Baxter raised his hand and asked, "Mr. Ratburn, if Earth Day is in two days, then why are we learning about everything today?"

The teacher simply gave a smile and said, "I'm glad you asked that question, Buster. I'm sure Muffy would be glad to answer" Mr. Ratburn gestured towards Mary Alice Crosswire (better known as Muffy) who was sitting at her seat, waiting for the moment that the teacher would call on her.

The monkey eagerly stood up, faced the class and said, "Well, in case you didn't know, Earth Day is a big thing here in Elwood City. In fact, there is going to be a whole celebration in two days with a big parade and the most fabulous party. And of course a cleanup project at the local park and in the area near the woods" The class cheered upon hearing the news of the celebration, and Muffy continued to speak, "They're going to let us off school on that day. And the day before, our school is invited to help set up with the celebration and get some Earth Day treats earlier than anyone else! All of this is courtesy of your Miss Muffy Crosswire."

Completely ignoring the boasting, the class erupted into cheers. Some such as Buster Baxter and resident tough guy Shelley Barnes (better known as Binky) celebrated at the concept of no school, while others such as Alan Powers (better known as The Brain) praised the event for its educational and environmental value.

Late morning the next day, the entire school was outside pitching in to help set up. The Crosswires had enough refreshments to feed the school for what felt like a whole year, and the refreshments weren't the typical refreshments either, even Sue Ellen Armstrong and Buster haven't seen some of the food before.

The younger kids were doing the decorations, while teachers helped lead the groups of kids as well as plan the actual event. The second graders were helping with the Earth Day parade floats, and the older kids were doing the heavy lifting and fencing off areas for the big event.

The third graders, courtesy of Miss Muffy Crosswire and her father, were running the more important errands. Fern Walters, The Brain, and George Lundgren were running food-related errands (no one in the right mind would ever allow Buster to be running those errands). Buster, Jenna Morgan, and Maria were picking up clothes for the parade, while Arthur, Binky, Sue Ellen, and Alex tagged along for various special deliveries. Francine Frensky and the other third graders only ran errands within the event's grounds, and hardly left the area unless they needed to aid Arthur and his group.

Nonetheless preparation for the event was fun, and Muffy even brought along her digital camera and spent the majority of her time using it, taking pictures of setting up for the special parade. After all, the Crosswire wanted to make sure that the event got as much publicity as possible so the future billionaire could get a start while she was still young and fresh. Her butler Bailey was also taking pictures for parts of the event that Muffy couldn't get to.

The event itself was a blast, one of the most memorable, if not the most memorable, moments of Arthur and his friends' life. The whole community participated and enjoyed the whole event together, and Muffy was sure to take pictures of that as well.

The best picture of the entire event was taken near the end of setting up for the Earth Day event. The grown-ups were talking to both the students and the teachers about their splendid efforts in setting up, and thanked the Crosswires for their contributions when it happened. As soon as the principal stopped talking and the group was applauding, Arthur and Alex came rushing in with a large cake and some party hats, and Binky and Sue Ellen soon followed with paper plates and plastic forks as well as candles and a lighter for the grown-ups to use.

Binky shoved the plates and forks into Sue Ellen's arms while he helped Mr. Ratburn set up a small table. Arthur and Alex set the cake down on the mini-table while Sue Ellen placed her things onto the mini-table as well. Alex then walked over to Maria, a rabbit in his class, and handed a special party hat to her. Upon noticing his friend's confusion, and the entire student body's confusion at that, he said, "Hey, it's your birthday, right? Come on let's celebrate!" Mr. Ratburn lit the candles on the cake while the student body sang a birthday, and Earth Day, song for the birthday girl and blew out the candles. Before the cake was served, Bailey had snuck a picture in while they were singing the song. Eventually, when Muffy's article was about to be published, the editor found the photo and convinced Muffy to use it instead of the one she initially picked. When the paper came to Lakewood elementary, everyone involved asked for a copy.

Present Day

Arthur put his finished summer math homework aside as he picked up the book he was to read for the English summer homework. While opening the book, he said upon noticing you, "You're probably wondering 'how was that surprising?' or 'what kind of bad connotations regarding your friends was that supposed to have?'" Arthur didn't look up from his book and only pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose while turning the page as he continued to speak, "Well believe me, you haven't even heard the bad part yet." The aardvark finally looked up from the book with a sad look on his face, "And I'm only talking about the preliminary drama."

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**Prologue**

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Present Day

Sue Ellen Armstrong scowled as she looked out of the window of the airplane. She was currently on a flight to Elwood City. Her parents decided to send her back after accidentally accepting an offer for an expedition in Africa without knowing it was for adults only. Being only fifteen, her parents were forced to leave Sue Ellen behind, the offer was just too good to pass up, and they had to send her back to Elwood City to live with her grandmother until the sophomore could get her own apartment.

The cat was furious, but also extremely frustrated that she had to return to that messed up school, Lakewood. Sue Ellen kicked the seat in front of her once again, ignoring the poor passenger's shouts of complaint. The cat couldn't care less. She could throw down that idiot in two seconds flat thanks to her martial arts skills, so it didn't matter anyway.

Why was Sue Ellen mad? Had Arthur Timothy Read and his friends not been good friends? Had they not welcomed her happily after Buster Baxter figured out she wasn't an alien in 3rd grade? Had they not helped her out as friends?

Yes. They did indeed help Sue Ellen out in her time of need, and they were amazing friends…up until the seventh grade. Yes, things got very interesting in middle school. Proper terms for the seventh grade specifically would be disastrous, dramatic, chaotic, completely and utterly ridiculous. Then again, when is middle school ever not these things? Before she knew it, Sue Ellen was thinking about _that_ again.

Sue Ellen recalled it perfectly.

The Past; 6th grade & September 7th grade

Middle School itself had started off strangely when they transitioned into the sixth grade. Getting used to the bigger amount of kids in their grade as well as the schedules and moving from classroom to classroom wasn't the problem. They had already gotten used to all of that rather quickly. No, their problems regarded the social pyramid, or, as Sue Ellen called it, the evil-pyramidal-tomb-stone-of-the-stupid-_(censored)_-social-status-of-students.

The first subtle change was what started the entire chain reaction. In the "natural" process of life, "naturally" there would be that filthy rich girl that acted snobby, tried to look pretty, and flaunted it in front of everyone for attention. Mary Alice Crosswire (or as Sue Ellen liked to call her, Hairy _(censored)_ Crosswire) may have been a decent girl and was at least innocent enough as to be kind in the 3rd grade, but as soon as middle school rolled around and the monkey was given "the talk", Muffy Crosswire had turned into that stupid popular girl.

And yet, that was before the drama began changing everything. By the time Mr. Nigel Charles Ratburn III's former students had reached seventh grade, The Tough Customers and the other then eighth graders had become the kings of Lakewood Middle. Eighth graders were the spot everyone wanted to be at. Even if it meant braving through sixth and seventh grade, it was worth it. That was exactly how the new eighth graders felt when they rose to the eighth grade. Not only were they now the top of the school, soon they would be in High School, an even bigger level in life that "innocent" middle school students wanted to achieve. That year's particular eighth grade wasn't afraid of showing it either, especially The Tough Customers (the school bullies) and Prunella Deegan (a girl who loved to show off her seniority to the rest of the school). After the first week, the eighth graders hardly talked to underclassmen unless it was to show off their superiority, during gym class (that the poor seventh graders shared with them on Fridays), or towards a person who they deemed worthy enough to be friends with them. Within the first week, the only one capable of this task was Jenna Morgan, and that was only because she was friends with Prunella.

The seventh graders were then succumbing to the pressure and the drama one by one. Buster was the first of which, and was lucky. The rabbit had come home after a tough day at school one day in the month of September and found that his mother got a new job. With better payment and a better work area, Bitzi Baxter couldn't refuse. The news was fantastic, until Buster was continuously left home alone and it got to the point where he didn't even see his mother during the day at all. The exceptions being when she pulled out of the driveway to get to work after leaving breakfast on the table, and at night right when Buster would fall asleep when she arrived back home. Buster, being hardly a good of a cook as his mother, often ended up ordering take out for dinner, going out for dinner (which only happened if he was going with his friends or other family), or going over to Arthur's in order to eat.

The pattern continued for an entire month. His mother was loving and apologetic, but just didn't have enough time. It didn't end until Jenna was paired with Buster for a science project and went over to his house to work on it. After learning the issue, Jenna convinced Buster to speak with both of his parents about the issue, and the issue ended when Buster and his parents decided that he would live with his dad. Buster would get to go on adventures around the world once again, but would have to be homeschooled. Although Buster was glad to have time with family again after a month (or years in the case of his father), leaving his friends behind left a huge impact. Arthur alone was upset over Buster's departure for nearly two weeks, and his bunny friend felt the same.

Present Day

Sue Ellen was brought back to reality upon hearing a flight attendant's voice. The cat didn't bother to wipe the hostile look on her face as she turned to face the woman and asked with the annoyance clearly leaking from her like a giant flashing billboard sign, "What do you want?"

The flight attendant simply flashed a large smile and said, "Sweetie, here's your dinner. Another attendant will come by with an assortment of drinks you can choose from. Enjoy!" The woman made Sue Ellen sick. The plastic smile and fake body made Sue Ellen think of Muffy. It wasn't a pleasant image, and Sue Ellen quickly shooed the woman away after muttering a quick thanks. As the cat opened her nasty airplane food, another attendant came around with drinks and Sue Ellen grabbed a bottle of water.

While eating the food, Sue Ellen thought of who the drama targeted next. In chronological order, Sue Ellen remembered just who it was. And a smirk formed on her face upon remembering one of the two legendary battles of the year.

The Past; October & November

After Buster's departure, it was around Halloween. Muffy had no interest in participating in such a ridiculous holiday, but took the opportunity to show off a glamorous costume. Her friends agreed with her.

At this time, Muffy's friends were consisted of two types of people: other people who are popular, pretty, and loved to flaunt it, or people manipulated into joining them. Jenna was an example of the former, and Francine Frensky had been the latter for an entire year thus far. This is how the first greatest fight of the year started, a twisted friendship between Muffy and Francine.

Francine had stopped being Muffy's friend when the Crosswire became the typical rude popular girl, and was peeved when Muffy had found a way to force her back into the group. The Frensky was still peeved in the seventh grade when she still hadn't found a way to ditch Muffy and her cronies. Being the only one in the group not "in style" for the majority of the time, Francine was the person the girls counted on to do their dirty work, and be the one to make themselves feel better if they feel that what they're wearing might not be good enough.

But, Francine was busy. She was a part-time jock, a part-time musician, and a part-time friend of nerds such as George Lundgren and Arthur. Thus, she didn't have any time to be in Muffy's group. So, when Muffy went for a whole 36 hours straight of commanding Francine to do various things (Do Muffy's homework, do Muffy's chores, open doors for Muffy, allow Muffy to skip ahead in lines, etc.), Francine exploded. During lunch that day, Alan Powers (The Brain) had calculated that Muffy had forced Francine to do things for her at least 127 times in the last 36 hours: at least 75 being petty, about 21 being things Bailey could've handled, 1 being almost illegal, and over 30 being completely ridiculous. Not too long after he mentioned that to Sue Ellen and everyone else at his table, Francine's voice boomed through the entire cafeteria. Number 128 had been the last straw. It wasn't the most ridiculous, but it was enough to throw the Frensky over the edge. Right then and there, Francine didn't care if Muffy spilled the beans on what she had been holding against her. As long as Muffy got out of her life permanently, it would be worth it. By the time the lunch hour ended, Muffy was on the ground complaining and throwing threats at Francine as the entire cafeteria cheered. That would be the end of their friendship, and Muffy's last straw as well.

By that time, drama had caught Buster, Francine, and Muffy as well as Jenna. One might have thought that the main character, Arthur, might've escaped the drama upon Buster's departure, but that was hardly the case. It happened early in November. Muffy wanted revenge on Francine, and wanted something else, too: a relationship. Their grade hadn't had a couple that lasted longer than 19 hours, and Muffy was determined to be the first couple in the grade as well as the longest lasting. It was a feat surely accomplishable by the richest and most popular girl in the school.

To make things simple, she decided it would be a boy in their school. To make things more dramatic and complicated, she decided it would be our resident aardvark, Arthur. Arthur was not only a good friend of Francine (thus a good weapon for revenge), but also someone normal and easily manipulated. After a mere week, Muffy had Arthur under her control and the two proceeded to be the power couple of their grade for the whole quarter. Muffy's plan worked in all ways she wanted it to. Being the first people to kiss would've been an added bonus, but since that Francine had taken the spot (with Buster), it wasn't possible.

With the addition of this to the Francine and Muffy feud, the entire grade was split. Both girls were furious and thirsty for a decent revenge. Being in that state of mind, it was almost impossible to not choose a side, even people in the middle were leaning towards one side more than the other. This was the case when the biggest fight of the decade sprung up in the cafeteria, when Francine had led an almost-revolution to overthrow Muffy's group and get Arthur back. The poor aardvark was stuck between Muffy and Francine, being forced to choose between having his secret kept and his morals. When Arthur stood up to Muffy in his own way, she spilled the beans on Arthur's secret and harassed him for it until Francine interfered and started the food fight of the century. What, with Francine leading an almost revolution and Arthur's dilemma, the food fight was as predictable as Christmas. The cafeteria workers and the teachers found out about the food fight, and both Muffy and Francine were suspended for a week.

Although Arthur was free of Muffy's control when she and Francine were suspended, the unity of the grade wasn't the same as the tension grew and grew.

Present Day

Sue Ellen was brought back to Earth as she recalled her own involvement in the big mess. As she threw her trash into a passing-by trash cart, Sue Ellen thought back to what she had been doing at the time. She scowled as she remembered just what she had been doing.

The Past

Alex and Maria had been best friends during elementary school and especially during 3rd grade in Mr. Ratburn's class. But upon entering middle school, the boy-girl friendship had started to be looked at in a different way, and people were constantly asking if they were a couple by the time 7th grade rolled around. Somehow, the student body couldn't wrap their minds around the concept that boys and girls could be best friends and not be a couple at the same time. The tension grew upon Alex being paired with Shelly Barnes (Binky) on a project.

Speaking of Binky, the bulldog had become more of a bully than ever upon entering middle school (similar to the concept of always having a popular girl, there's always a bully), and his target was primarily George and other such nerds. This ended up being worse than it was back in elementary school, when little squabbles (in comparison to Muffy and Francine's fight) continued to pop up around school. Sue Ellen had ended up being a constant mediator, and the person George relied on to save his skin.

Anyway, upon Alex being paired with Binky on a project, the rabbit had to face being teased constantly whenever there was a break in doing their work. Eventually, Alex couldn't take it anymore and he gave in. Just like that, he started to avoid Maria and made other friends, primarily with Binky's crew. When Maria confronted him, that's when Sue Ellen came in. Sue Ellen ended up being a mediator and a main player in the various arguments that Maria and Alex would have. It eventually got to a point where the two were no longer friends and could barely talk to each other without fighting, even with Arthur and Sue Ellen's help. The unfortunate squabbles between previously good friends only happened here and there compared to the big drama going on that everyone actually knew about.

Present Day

Sue Ellen yawned and checked the time on her watch. According to the time in Tibet, it was about time to sleep. Her frown was replaced with a look depicting sleepiness, and Sue Ellen was soon asleep, all the while recalling the second biggest fight of the year though a dream.

The Past; December

The Brain had been on an over-achieving/getting-good-grades-at-everything-e ven-gym streak. Not only was he one of the only kids in their grade with a good score in gym (all other scores were courtesy of the 8th graders), but he never got a grade below 101% for all of his classes that quarter. The kids in his class found themselves hardly being able to comprehend the majority of the material The Brain presented during class, and the teacher often found him/herself spending an enormous amount of time looking over the amount of material in a homework assignment that should have been simple. Despite the length and quality of his homework, The Brian had discussed at lunch a late-November-afternoon to his companions that working on homework never exceeded a half hour for him, on all of his classes combined. Most were extremely impressed and amazed at The Brain's smarts, some wondered why he wasn't in the 8th grade, a few found it a bit excessive and a tad annoying (but would never say it aloud), and one completely resented it.

By the time the second biggest fight of the year started, it was approaching December. Thanksgiving and Black Friday excitement had long died out, and the holidays were everyone's next priority. The first semester was winding down, and with it a series of academic events began springing up to conclude the semester before winter break started. The first of these was the annual Science Fair, a normal occurrence and mandatory for all students. The previous year, The Brain had received an award and the highest recognition possible, even exceeding the upperclassmen. This hadn't bothered anyone at the time.

When the Science Fair started in late October/early November, the teacher and The Brain indirectly challenged everyone in the class to see if they could beat The Brain at the Science Fair. The only people who accepted the challenge were two other science-geeks, since everyone else had enough common sense to not accept. As a little friendly competition and for self-motivation, Fern Walters had accepted as well, to everyone's surprise. Fern was a well known Literature-class lover, not a science-geek or anything of the sort. When Thanksgiving break approached, the two other science-geeks had dropped out of the challenge. They had decided to do the science fair for fun, and knew that it was pointless to oppose The Brain after receiving first few grades on the first few sections. Although this was the same case for Fern, the literature-lover refused to drop out. Continuously losing to The Brain at everything (particularly all parts of the Science Fair that had been done thus far) had become annoying, and she was determined to beat him this time even if science wasn't her forte.

The competition was intense, and underclassmen that had the honor of watching were scarred for the rest of their Science Fair career. It was hard not to notice the growing competition that had turned from friendly to Fern-trying-desperately-but-ultimately-failing-at- defeating-The Brain-at-the-Science Fair-once-and-for-all. As stated, it was a losing competition for Fern, and The Brain had triumphed once more, even beating his record for the previous year. This only made Fern all the more frustrated, so that she eventually decided to purposely challenge The Brain at every academic opportunity possible and try to win at least once.

The result was chaotic. The conflict lasted long after winter break, and throughout January. The district soccer tryouts, quiz bowl club, Model UN club, the debate they had in English class, the great big history paper, mid terms, PSSAT, every homework assignment, every project, every paper, the history fair, the middle school geography bee, the time they dissected frogs or whatever-it-was-supposed-to-be in science class, the school-wide spelling bee, and possibly others. Of the ones listed, Fern only surpassed The Brain in the English debate, and a handful of assignments. The Brain was definitely a genius, and it was recognized by many, if not all. Everyone played a part, and they were somehow dragged into the mess if they so much as interacted with one of the two during classes. Even Muffy's academically-challenged crew was dragged into the mess during large group events.

The turning point was at the most hectic point in the whole mess. It was late January, and the school-wide spelling bee was where the chaos took place. As soon as the event was announced, the tension began. They studied the words that they weren't good at spelling, and both declared that they were smarter than the other by the time the event started. In their classes, Fern and The Brain proved to be the top. The two were tied, with The Brain leading by half a point, which only increased the tension.

By the time the finals for the middle school were happening, The Brain, Fern, Prunella, Sue Ellen, and three others were the ones left. Dropping like flies at difficult words, it was down to the first four mentioned rather quickly. Sue Ellen soon found herself smack dab in the middle of a fierce competition between the two competitors (and Prunella). As expected, Sue Ellen only lasted another round before she lost to the intense competition. Sue Ellen was almost glad to be out of it, the intensity of the competition was thick enough to mold into a clay tower. It lasted for another hour until Fern got "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," Fern subsequently lost to The Brain. The dog has since held a grudge against The Brain for losing "unfairly," especially since the bear ended up topping Prunella in the end.

The competition was forced to a stop when The Brain was offered to be bumped back up to the eighth grade. It was no secret that The Brain had been held back in kindergarten because of not being emotionally ready, but it was eminent that The Brain was more than just emotionally ready for eighth grade. The Brain was not only in advanced classes, but passing each assignment with ease and maintained a rather passive front throughout the year thus far even with the constant competition with Fern. With this in mind, the principal bumped The Brain to eighth grade, and a solid brick wall was put between Fern and The Brain. However, the poet's grudge against the bear only increased with every achievement he made that she couldn't match.

By this point, the seventh grade in shambles. With the entire grade divided into "rich" and "poor" for Muffy and Francine's feud, smart-guy versus poet feuds, and the typical bullies versus nerds fight, the grade was a wreck. The "poor" were trying (and failing) to successfully play Robin Hood against Muffy's club and Binky's bully goons, the smart guys were like Japan and China during World War II, and Sue Ellen had enough. When her parents were given an opportunity in Tibet, Sue Ellen begged them to accept and take her along. After all, finally meeting her little brother-like friend in Tibet and reuniting with family was far better than being caught in the war zone that was Lakewood Middle.

Present Day

Sue Ellen's peaceful nap was interrupted by the voice on the intercom, "All passengers buckle up and prepare for landing. We are approaching Elwood City." _Great_, time had passed more quickly during that period of sleep and now they were at Elwood City. Sue Ellen buckled up and checked the time on her watch. She had long since synced it to Elwood City time upon entering the plane. Checking the time, the cat saw that it was around midnight, she had gotten around eight hours of sleep.

Sue Ellen sighed, she could never be mad at her parents for making her go back to the city, but the horrors of the student body at the Lakewood Schools were chaotic and she couldn't handle it. Sure, she could have enrolled at Glenbrook Academy High, Mighty Mountain, or Elwood City High School, but her grandmother hadn't known and didn't live anywhere near those schools. Besides, attending any of those schools except maybe the latter would have been a nightmare.

Before long, the plane had landed and Sue Ellen was walking out of the baggage claim area with her luggage. As she walked through the airport lobby towards the front entrance, she passed by the food court. Just as she was about to step onto the escalator, she spotted a familiar figure walking away from a stand eating a foot-long sub and carrying a soda in his hand. A white rabbit wearing a brown and grey jacket and blue jeans stopped for a second to find a place to put his soda before continuing on, eating his sub while dragging his bags (with the soda in it) to the nearest escalator. Sue Ellen whirled around and looked at the white rabbit with a look of utter surprise. Going to the same school with the majority of her former elementary school classmates was highly unlikely itself, but adding this white rabbit to the list made it seem as if this whole thing was a dream!

Yet, Sue Ellen found herself faced with one of her former elementary school classmates like fate decided that absolutely _everyone_ needed to be together for 10th grade like it was normal (it wasn't). Sue Ellen approached the white rabbit as he stopped to throw his trash away and took out his soda. The surprise on Sue Ellen's face throughout the whole ordeal was now mirrored on the white rabbit's face when he came face to face with Sue Ellen as she asked, "Buster, is that really you?"


	2. Change

Elwood Drama War

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**Title 1**

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The residents of the Read house were going through their usual Saturday morning routine. As David Read, Arthur's father, moved in and out of the garage to prepare for a catering job in a few hours, Jane Read, Arthur's mother, was washing dishes in the kitchen. Pal, Arthur's pet dog, had grown quite a bit and was in the kitchen eating his own breakfast. However, the morning was hardly normal in the eyes of D.W. Read. The eleven year old was standing in front of the bathroom door, in her teal and white pajamas, shouting at her older brother to hurry up. On a normal Saturday morning, D.W. would have woken up bright and early to watch morning cartoons, get first helpings of breakfast, and spend an excessive amount of time in the bathroom just to annoy her older brother. That didn't happen today, since D.W. had slept in and her older brother took the opportunity to spend an excessive amount of time in the bathroom just to annoy her as their breakfast started to get cold.

As the noise level near the bathroom increased, the kitchen remained quite peaceful as a seven-year old girl with brown hair reaching above her shoulders with a teal dress over a white T-shirt and matching flip-flops walked into the room. Her mother acknowledged her presence by asking her, "Kate, have D.W. and Arthur finished at the bathroom yet?"

The seven year-old named Kate shook her head and gave a "no" before taking pal's empty bowl and handing it to her mother. "It could take a while" she added.

Jane sighed and replied, "Well, take Pal outside for the time being. I'll talk to your sister and brother." She wiped her hands on a small towel as Kate nodded and proceeded to take Pal outside. As she led Pal outside, clutching onto Pal's red leash tightly, she finally noticed your presence upon walking out the front door. Walking with Pal, she said with the calm tone someone uses to greet a friend of their sibling, "Oh, hi. You must be Arthur's friend that he's been talking about. It's nice to meet you." She waved with her free hand and then added, "I'm Kate Read, but I guess you figured that out already."

As Pal started to move into a run, Kate rushed to catch up. As she ran alongside Pal, she explained between breaths, "Doing the title at the beginning of each chapter is usually Arthur's job, but I'm doing it right now since he's busy today."

The two stopped at the park and Kate took a seat at a bench as Pal continued to wander around, still on his leash. After looking around to see if anyone was listening and lowering her voice to whisper she said, "I'm also doing this today because Arthur is going to be heavily involved in stuff, and he needs to stay surprised without getting everything spoiled to him. Since you now know everything that happened to him and his friends, you can follow along with us in the journey of the present."

Leaning back on the bench she said, "Were you surprised at Buster's return? I know I was. I didn't even expect Sue Ellen to come back. But, I'm sure you've seen how much they've both changed. Change is normal, and sometimes inevitable. The effects of change can also sneak up behind you and catch you by surprise if you're not careful." As Pal sniffed something and proceeded to bark after a butterfly, she asked rhetorically, "I wonder how it's caught up to Buster, Sue Ellen, and their 'friends'?" Pal then started to run off dragging Kate who was shouting at Pal to stop.

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**Chapter 1: Change**

* * *

Buster stood in the lobby of the airport in front of a trash can. His grip on his soda tightened upon seeing Sue Ellen standing in front of him with a look of surprise that mirrored his own. He then relaxed slightly, and said in a voice deeper and calmer than Sue Ellen remembered, "Oh, hi! I almost didn't recognize you there, Sue Ellen. It's been so long! What's up?" The tone of his voice showed that the bunny was nervous, genuinely surprised, and excited at the same time. A small laugh escaped partway through that sentence.

Sue Ellen's expression didn't falter as she remained dumbfounded. Finally finding words she asked, "Um, hi Buster… But weren't you traveling with your dad since, like, three years ago?"

Buster stopped obnoxiously sipping his soda when Sue Ellen finished asking the question. He scratched his head and replied, "Yeah, but I've been saving up to get my own apartment. Besides, along with the homeschooling, dad's been teaching me how to do stuff around the 'house' and how to make food and crafts from the various countries we visit. I even made some clothes. Do you want to see them?"

Sue Ellen took the second after that to think. In addition to having matured in obvious ways that everyone does, Buster also seemed more relaxed and less hyperactive. Although the bunny still seemed to love his food and not care how sanitary he was being, part of the Buster she knew from over three years ago had disappeared. Nevertheless she replied, "No thanks." Sue Ellen paused, wondering whether or not to ask questions on how Buster's changed, and an awkward silence ensued.

Buster sipped some more of his soda and asked casually, "So, what're you doing here at the Elwood City Airport?"

Sue Ellen then realized that Buster had completely missed out on the drama, luckily, and had no idea what had happened or that she had left. She awkwardly and nervously replied, "Oh, well, my family and I moved to Tibet in the second semester of seventh grade. My parents recently accepted an offer to go to Africa and, since I'm not eighteen-years old, I had to come back to Elwood City and live with my grandmother."

If Buster noticed Sue Ellen's nervousness or the awkwardness of the conversation, he hadn't mentioned it. The bunny continued to casually sip his soda and then asked, "So, what's happened since I left?"

Sue Ellen bit her lip in worry for a second, and then caught Buster off guard with a dark look that expressed pure hatred that made him nervous even though it wasn't directed toward him. "It's a long story" she finally replied.

Buster cleared his throat to get rid of any fear from Sue Ellen's expression and then said in a casual voice, "I've got time."

* * *

A few hours later, Sue Ellen and Buster had since left the airport and had taken a cab to the Sugar Bowl. The two were sitting in a booth near the back of the restaurant talking and eating. Specifically, Sue Ellen had been doing the talking for the past ten minutes, while Buster was on his third chocolate milkshake, listening intently. The former had been telling Buster about what had happened in seventh grade after his departure, while playing with the straw in her milkshake.

"And that's about it," Sue Ellen said as she finished her story. "I don't even know what happened after I left, but Arthur tried sending me emails until my account got hacked and I had to get a new one."

Buster finished slurping down the milkshake and gave a small burp. Buster then reached for another milkshake before Sue Ellen slapped his hand away and scowled, the rabbit then noticed that it was Sue Ellen's and smiled sheepishly before saying, "Sorry, I'm really in the mood for milkshakes after all of that airplane food."

As Buster asked the waiter for some ice cream, Sue Ellen chuckled at Buster's last comment and replied, "Its fine. I see you haven't changed at all when it comes to food, though."

Buster turned back to face Sue Ellen once more and smiled as he said, "Yup!" The waiter then returned with Buster's, rather colorful, ice cream. The bunny gave the waiter a cheerful thank you before happily digging in. After a few bites of the ice cream with Sue Ellen taking a few sips of her milkshake, Buster continued where he left off before the waiter gave him his ice cream. His expression turned sad and serious as he added, "But, you know, it seems everyone else must have changed a whole lot while I was gone. I mean, the both of us were gone while they lived their lives for another three whole years, and we have no idea what they're like now! For all we know, they could be doing-"

Sue Ellen quickly interrupted Buster before another customer overheard their conversation and took what Buster said the wrong way by replying, "Yeah, that's true." The cat then shrugged indifferently before saying, "Well, it's not like I care anyway. As long as they don't get in my business and do anything to piss me off, I'm fine."

Buster winced at those words. "You must be really mad at them" he said. The rabbit took another bite of ice cream and said with his mouth full, "But then again, I guess I can see why."

Sue Ellen scoffed and stabbed her straw into the milkshake and replied, "Are you kidding? They personally ruined my middle school experience by turning the whole school into a giant battlefield! I go to school to learn. If I went there to get involved in something like that, I would've gone to either military school or a prison."

Buster cracked up and started laughing, nearly choking on the ice cream. "That's a good one" he said between laughs.

Sue Ellen stared at Buster with a blank look on her face for a moment before she finally laughed along. In that moment, it felt like elementary school all over again. Just good friends spending quality time at the Sugar Bowl telling jokes after school. It felt as if the group of friends hadn't been torn apart, as if nothing had changed.

As if the moment had been jinxed, their laughter died down. The rabbit took a bite of ice cream before cautiously asking, "You know, you've changed a bunch, too. Not just because you're older and everything, but you're a little more…uh, passionate and defensive of your beliefs, I guess."

Sue Ellen's confusion was written all over her face as she stopped sipping her milkshake to say, "Elaborate."

Buster stuttered awkwardly, trying to find the right words, "Um…. I guess it's because you're all riled up and angry at all of our old friends, and you're not at all hesitant at expressing it. Before, you would've let out all of your anger by doing something about it, but now you're acting different about it."

Sue Ellen stirred the milkshake using her straw and replied, "Really? I haven't really noticed." The sarcasm wasn't present in her voice as she said it, but it was obvious that she had been lying. How could she not notice how mad she was at the group? Before, she would've forced them into a second chance, but not anymore.

Buster nodded, not picking up on the white lie, and added, "Yeah, and you also have a bit of a Tibetan accent and adopted some of their fashion tips." Buster said this in reference to her rather exotic accessories and make-up from the country.

Sue Ellen smiled and said, "Thanks! I was waiting for someone to notice! I really liked it there, and everyone was so nice." She sipped some of her milkshake. "But, you know, you seem to have changed much more than I have. You're calmer, your voice is deeper, you're more connected to the different cultures of the world, and you don't smell like a walking trash-can, no offense."

Buster chuckled at the last one and replied, "None taken. I've been working on that one since restaurants and businesses in London and stuff refused to let me through because of how I smelled. And for the other stuff, thanks… I guess people mature once they've gone on a trip around the world for three years."

* * *

Before they knew it, the two had finished up at the Sugar Bowl, paid for the food, and left the restaurant. The two were walking down the sidewalk away from the Sugar Bowl, dragging their luggage behind them.

They walked in silence, making their way to Sue Ellen's grandmother's home. Buster had picked up a newspaper on the way and was reading it. He also had a water bottle in his hand and was drinking it as he walked.

As he turned the page, he choked on the water and nearly dropped the water bottle if Sue Ellen hadn't caught it and patted his back. "What?" she asked. "What did you see?"

Buster pointed to the title of the article, and the picture beside it, and said, "It's Muffy!"

Sue Ellen looked down at the picture and saw Muffy, wearing one of the _(censored)_ cheerleading outfits in creation. Sue Ellen scoffed, "Of course. I expected no less from Muffy."

Buster was beyond surprised, and pointed to the picture and said, "But that's Muffy!" He squinted at the picture and added, "And what the heck is she wearing?"

Sue Ellen replied with her hatred for Muffy clearly showing, "It's what _(censored)_ like Muffy do to get attention. They show off their goodies and get a bunch of 'attention' and 'popularity' in return. They're such useless people."

Buster scratched his head and said, "If you say so, but I can't imagine anyone that would wear that kind of stuff just for…" He thought it over and then a thought crossed his mind and a hand flew to his mouth in shock and he exclaimed, "Wait, you don't mean _that_ kind of attention, do you?"

Sue Ellen shrugged, "Depends on the person, I guess."

Buster shuddered and said, "Note to self: avoid Muffy." They strolled along the street slowly for a bit more in silence and then Buster folded up the newspaper and stopped to put it in his bag. As Sue Ellen waited, she spotted a familiar figure who was crossing the street.

The figure spotted Buster and Sue Ellen and looked at them in disbelief before quickly walking over to them and making sure she had seen correctly. The figure then said, "Buster? Sue Ellen? Is that really you guys?"


	3. Prunella

Elwood Drama War

* * *

**Title 2**

* * *

In the Read residence, David Read was in the kitchen baking. He turned around upon seeing you and says, "Oh! It's you. It's a pleasure to see you again. It's really been too long." In between baking he says, "Terribly sorry Arthur couldn't speak to you guys, but he's busy with the tech club." He sighs and says, "The poor boy's been through so much. His dramatic change in friends and social status forced him to join things that fit the status quo of high school. Change can do things like that."

As Pal and Kate ran through the kitchen, he continued on, "But change can be tolerated. If you learn to embrace change, then you learn that sometimes it's for the better, and things aren't exactly as you thought it'd be. Hopefully my son and his friends have found such a way to tolerate it. After all, the status quo in high school hardly means anything out in the real world, and only exists if you allow it to."

Mr. Read gazes out of the window, "I wonder how Sue Ellen, Buster, and their friend are handling it?"

* * *

**Chapter 2: Prunella**

* * *

A figure across the street spotted Buster and Sue Ellen and looked at them in disbelief before quickly walking over to them as Buster finished putting away the newspaper. The figure then said, "Buster? Sue Ellen? Is that really you guys?" The figure wore a pair of short jean shorts and a ripped-up black T-shirt with various colorful graffiti designs on it. The figure had a tattoo on her arm, and had lots of make-up on, as well as straightened hair.

Buster looked both genuinely surprised and happy to see the figure and said, "Hey, Prunella! It's nice to see you again!"

Sue Ellen looked over Prunella and said, "Wow, you look different from when we last saw you…"

Prunella nodded as she chewed her gum, "Same, I can't belief you guys are back! When'd you get here?"

Buster looked at his watch and said, "Um, like, roughly around two hours ago."

Prunella spotted their luggage at their feet and nodded in understanding, "Oh yeah, you probably didn't have time to get home yet." She took out her gum and smeared it on a nearby telephone pole as she continued, "So, how's Tibet and the rest of the world?"

Buster looked enthusiastic and said, "Oh, it's great! I learned so many new things, and ate so many different kinds of food."

Prunella chucked and replied, "Guess you learned a thing or two around the 'house,' too, huh?"

Buster nodded, "Yeah, it's why I'm back. Mom and dad trust me now."

Prunella dug in her pocket and took out a lighter and a small white stick. Putting the white stick between her lips, she asked as she lit the white stick, "So what about you, Sue Ellen?"

Sue Ellen eyed Prunella with a serious glare and replied with a cold tone, "Oh, you know. Not much, just the usual." She shifted her feet and said, "I'm more curious about how you've been doing."

Prunella shrugged, and removed the white stick from her lips and blew some smoke out, "Same old, same old."

Sue Ellen scoffed and replied, "Doesn't look like 'same old, same old' to me."

Prunella continued to be indifferent as she said, "Okay, okay. The city in general hasn't really changed drastically, but I see you've guessed that some of the other people have changed." Prunella gestured towards the newspaper in Buster's hand as she said this, referencing the picture of Muffy.

"That counts you, right? I mean, I didn't think you were the type to smoke." Buster replied, oblivious to the tension.

Prunella waved it off with, "Eh, took it up when I joined Muffy's crew. I ditched the whole mumbo-jumbo fortune-telling thing, though I'm better at it now." She spotted Sue Ellen about to make a comment before she added, "And, for your information. It's not Muffy's crew exactly, but it's of the same type. I don't care if Muffy has her own clique, ours is more superior and we're a grade above her."

Sue Ellen stood as if she had nothing to say in reply for a second, before Buster spoke up and said, "So who's in Muffy's clique exactly?"

Prunella thought for a moment before saying, "Well there's Muffy, obviously, super-smart transfer-student Colleen, super-athletic long-since-potty-trained Jenna…"

Sue Ellen interjected and asked in disbelief, "Hold up. Jenna's a part of Muffy's crew?"

Prunella nodded and said, "Oh yeah, definitely. She's Muffy's right hand man… next to Colleen. She and Colleen are, like, Muffy's advisors for smart-stuff and athletic-stuff." She continued down the list. "There's also, Louise, Rachel, Hannah, Sarah, Haley, Ashley, Mary…"

Buster commented in confusion, "Wait, but isn't Mary really nice? Why's she with Muffy?"

Prunella shrugged, "I don't know. Rumor has it that she owes Muffy a favor, but I've also heard that she's Muffy's best gossiper."

Buster was shocked and shook his head, "No way, Mary was in Miss Sweetwater's class! And everyone there's super nice."

Prunella replied matter-off-factly as she tossed away her white stick, "Apparently not. Anyway, there's also some other people who aren't a part of her club, but get dragged in occasionally for both their own and Muffy's gains. Those people are generally Fern, Arthur, Alex, Binky, myself, a freshman named Sam, Maria's younger brother, a senior named Caroline, and some other people."

Sue Ellen and Buster were both taken aback and the former asked, "Wait, Arthur's one of them?!"

Buster rapidly shook his head shouting, "No! It can't be true!"

Prunella's demeanor was more serious as she took out a soda can and proceeded to open it, "Oh, he's been blackmailed big time. Your friend hasn't gone off the deep end yet, but he will if he ends up joining his clique. He's a nerd, a pushover; it's far too easy for Muffy to manipulate him."

Buster was nearly hopping up and down in worry as he said, "Man, I've got to talk to him ASAP! My friend needs my help!"

Sue Ellen grabbed the rabbit's arm and stopped him, "Not so fast. You'll get all the time to talk to him later. Besides, talking to him will be useless. Only way to get him out of this is to pull him out slowly, and that means several months." As Buster slumped in defeat, Sue Ellen asked Prunella, "What about Fern?"

Prunella drank some of the soda as she said, "You should've seen her after the whole Alan and her competition a few years back. She pretty much exploded. If she and Muffy hadn't been so different when they were younger, the two would be best friends right now. Fern's pretty much the Muffy of the nerds."

Buster buried his head in his hands, "Oh, everything's gotten worse! Everyone's changed, and not for the better. I wish I had stuck around to help them out."

Sue Ellen shook her head, "No, you don't. You would've become one of them, a poor teenager with a dead-end high school career. Leaving was a good thing, for you. Nothing that you could've done would've fixed any of this."

Prunella nodded, "Oh yeah, I agree with you on that. All of you sophomores are doomed. If anything, it'll just get worse." She crushed her soda can and tossed it into the street. "Alex spread a nasty rumor about Maria last week, and George's new girlfriend crushed his favorite puppet. Friends are nonexistent, and none of you guys will be going the same direction in terms of the future."

Sue Ellen sighed, "We're all just victims of an Elwood drama war."


End file.
